If you’ve been in front of any sort of media in the past month or so, you’ve probably come across one of these celebrity-cameo ads for Box Tops for Education:

http://www.boxtops4education.com/Videos/absent-computer

Now, I have no problem with the Box Tops program itself. If a private company chooses to donate to our schools– great! That’s wonderful of them to do that. What bothers me every single time, as a public school teacher and as a mom of two public school children, is the idea that without us parents and teachers jumping though the crazy hoops of clipping labels off our weekly recycling pile (and buying only certain brands that sport said labels– but that’s a whole different post for another day), we are accepting that our schools wouldn’t have essentials– like keyboards– without this private help. Keyboards! These labels aren’t being shown to fund things like special event guest speakers…or field trips that support the curriculum…they’re being shown as funding the supplies that we literally cannot teach without. So I suppose my point is this: Find out what your school is using funds from programs like Box Tops for Education for. If it really is going toward essentials, as these ads state, put your energy and your voice as a citizen toward changing that fact…in between clipping those tiny labels. And if it’s going toward fantastic “extras” that are enhancing your child’s education, then keep on clipping! 😉